In his right hand, the performer holds a bill vertically by its short edge. His left hand, with fingers pressed together and thumb extended, covers the top portion of the bill. He slides his left hand down the bill and it visibly transforms into a bill of a different denomination, or foreign currency.

The performer orients the bill horizontally and holds it by the short edges with both hands. He snaps the bill and strokes it several times before handing it out for examination.

If you have a sweet tooth for magical eye candy, this visual transformation may get your salivary glands gushing. But before you drool all over yourself, read on.

The production values of the DVD are meager. Mr. Ninh doesn’t speak. His mute demonstrations of the method are adequate.

On-screen text accompanies the video instructions. Instead of complementing the video instruction, the text undermines it. It is atrocious! The following sentence is representative of the terrible text:

“Then take out the excess and pull up gently whiff.”

Whiff? Leaping linguistic lunacy! What the hell does whiff have to do with the method? I have no idea. But it’s painfully apparent that Mr. Ninh whiffed at providing comprehensible text.

English is not his native language. So, why oh why did he write the text!?

Eric Ross “presents” this DVD. I don’t know if that means that he produced it, or that he merely hawks it on his web site. In either case, it was his responsibility to watch the DVD to ensure that he was offering a quality product.

There are only two possible explanations for the tortured text. Mr. Ross watched the DVD, read the text and deemed it lucid. This scenario suggests that he is functionally illiterate.

Or, Mr. Ross simply didn’t bother to watch the DVD. This scenario suggests that he is thoughtless and irresponsible.

One scenario is bad. The other scenario is worse. Take your pick.

I don’t mind methods that require me to start dirty. I dislike methods that require me to end dirty. I abhor and laugh derisively at methods that require me to start and end dirty. Unfortunately, Mr. Ninh’s method falls into the latter category.

Let’s get real, people. When a magician transforms one bill into a different bill, a sober, mentally healthy participant does not immediately believe that the performer caused the transformation by violating immutable laws of physics. She suspects that the performer cleverly, secretly switched the bills.

If, after the transformation, the performer shows that both of his hands are unmistakably empty, the participant’s explanation falls apart and she experiences an entertaining, inexplicable mystery that we call magic.

After witnessing this effect, the participant suspects that the original bill is in the performer’s other hand, and the performer cannot prove her wrong. If the participant asks the performer to open his other hand, his only response is to shout “no” and run away. Mr. Ninh doesn’t even suggest how to dispose of the original bill.